Efficiency of Irrigated Agriculture in the West Bank

Irrigated Agriculture in the West Bank constitutes less than 6% of the total Palestinian cultivated areas. There is a great potential to increase the areas under irrigation once Palestinians get their water rights from the West Bank aquifers and the Jordan River. Israel has restricted Palestinian access to their water resources and is already exploiting more than 80% of the Palestinian water resources. Palestinians in the West Bank are being limited to use 125 MCM of their water resources per year for all purposes. Of these, 89 MCM are used for agriculture which is the backbone of the Palestinian economy. Thirty nine percent of the total water quantities used for agriculture are being extracted by the Israeli settlements in the West Bank. Despite the Israeli restrictions, Palestinian farmers have been able to adopt new technologies for conservation by using modern irrigation techniques, agricultural ponds, and rainfall harvesting. This study will assess the efficiency of water use for agriculture in the West Bank.